RR: Praise God for that. (Applause) Ted, as the men’s basketball coach and as the athletic director, give us a little preview of this coming year because not long after the NBA season begins, the college season will be beginning and we’ll be right in the heart of basketball by late November here at ORU. Say a word about what, what you feel in your heart about athletics at
ORU in general and also about basketball in particular.
TO: Well, I’m excited about our overall program. Number one, is that we have a group of people that are really working together. Jack Wallace joined us on our staff and is my associate director. We’re just hiring an outstanding marketing man, and so we’re developing a team. And if you expect to have a team on the floor, you have to have a team working in administration. And we’re getting that altogether and we feel that our purpose is just what we talked about earlier, is to serve this ministry. It’s to witness on the court and on the baseball diamond or in whatever endeavor, is to witness for this ministry. We’ve taken some giant strides in the last year. Not only are we a much better basketball team coming into this year. Incidentally, I think that we’ll be 50% maybe better than we were a year ago. I believe then the following year that we’ll be a real national power.
RR: Going to hold you to that, Ted.
TO: You bet. I’m cutting my own throat there.
RR: Wayman, we need your help.
LR: How many brothers do you have?
RR: Do you have any brothers that can play?
WT: No, I’m the youngest.
RR: Oh, you’re the youngest. TO: I’ve been excited, Wayman came out to see me early in the summer and he said, “Coach, I’m no longer the biggest big man on the court. There are the Jabbars and the great big players.” And so he’s converting to being an outside player. And we’ve had a lot of fun this summer. We spent a great deal of time together working on his outside game. And believe me, he’s going to be ever bit as effective outside in time as he is inside. (Applause) But it’s a joy, it’s an inspiration to me to work with him every day and to share, and you can just feel the Spirit of God in Wayman. I tell all our players, when you’re playing don’t let anything bother you. Don’t let your opponent–like the commercial says, don’t let them see you sweat. Well, that’s the way Wayman played. He was the best example of that of any player I’ve ever seen.
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